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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27201989">Alone</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RachelleOfAllTrades/pseuds/RachelleOfAllTrades'>RachelleOfAllTrades</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Maxiana Trevelyan [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 17:46:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>565</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27201989</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RachelleOfAllTrades/pseuds/RachelleOfAllTrades</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading!</p></div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cullen Rutherford/Female Trevelyan, Female Inquisitor/Cullen Rutherford</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Maxiana Trevelyan [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1194990</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Alone</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Maxiana lay on her bed, knees up to her eyes and her back against the headboard. She was alone. Alone.</p>
<p>No one would ever understand. No one would ever know what she had been through. And the worst part was, all she wanted to do was flee.</p>
<p>Tears soaked the breeches where her cheeks met them and a sob broke in her as she repeated the word again, alone.</p>
<p>How could anyone ever understand the weight she carried on her shoulders every day?</p>
<p>She thought of Cullen, with his perfect smirk as he tried to hide the blush that would take over his face in an instant. He supported her, was always there for her when she needed him. But would he ever truly understand the pressure she was under? No… he wouldn’t.</p>
<p>Alone. She thought again as the green skies of the fade flooded her memory. Surely those who were with her would understand the consequences of that trip. But none of them would feel the pain she felt whenever Strouds voice filled her ears. None of them would see the looks of the Wardens faces as she declared them allies.</p>
<p>Alone. Her hand fell to her side where the rogues poisoned blade cut her open. She felt the ridges under her light tunic, remembering again that she would live with the scar forever.</p>
<p>Alone. Music and dancing swam in her mind as she thought of the Empress’ masquerade. Guilt filling her as she thought of the information she collected and used to force a truce in Orlais. She had hated playing the Game and her decision to play alone filled her with regret on more days than not.</p>
<p>Alone. Corypheus stood before her, running his mouth about godhood and his inevitable victory. The others had fallen behind and the two of them stood face to face alone. Her left hand twinged with pain and she remembered ripping him apart with the mark.</p>
<p>Alone. Divine Victoria had been forced to call an Exalted Council. Would her days as Inquisitor be nothing when the time came for a ruling? Panic set in and she took a deep breath through her sobs. And another. She couldn’t lose control now, not with the mark becoming more and more unstable as time had gone on.</p>
<p>The mark. Alone. No one would ever know what it was like to bear this mark. How every time she’d use it to close a rift she’d feel it all the way up to her shoulder. And now, after all this time, she could feel it in her neck, chest, and back. It was killing her. She knew it was.</p>
<p>Alone. She would die, who even knew when. Would there be warning or time to prepare? Or perhaps it would just take her one day…</p>
<p>“Ana?” She heard faintly as a hand touched her shoulder, light as a feather. “Ana, what’s wrong?”</p>
<p>Swollen and red, her eyes searched for his face. His whiskey eyes filled with concern for her.</p>
<p>“It’s okay,” she lied, brushing the wetness from her face with her tunic.</p>
<p>“It’s clearly not okay.” Cullen said as he climbed up onto the bed, curling himself around her and holding her tightly.</p>
<p>Alone. Yes. She was alone in many ways but this, this helped. “No, it’s not. But that’s all right. I’ve got you here with me now and that’ll be enough.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you for reading!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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